My mother likes her desserts sweet. If I coated a sugar cube in
caramel, she would rave about it. When I ask her to detect any subtle
flavors in a more delicate dessert, she asks for something chocolate.
There is no shame in this. She's American. She likes American
desserts. "Subtle" is not a word that appears on the Friendly's
dessert menu.
Last weekend I made an apple-cranberry pie. The recipe was in this
month's Cook's Illustrated and intrigued me because it has a layer of
cranberries and a layer of apples. I knew that my father and possibly
my brother would like it, but I didn't think my mother would enjoy it
unless it had a marshmallow chocolate topping.
Last night she called to tell me how much she had enjoyed the pie. I
was startled.
"Really?", I asked excitedly. "Didn't you love the flavor of the
cranberries interacting with the apple?"
"Oh, no dear. Of course I scraped out the cranberries."
|